News Aug 26, 2010 at 4:00 am

Skip Paying MAX Fare, Wind Up Deported

Comments

1
31% of those arrested committed serious crimes such as assault or robbery, 20% were convicted of misdemeanors or property crimes.....51% of those deported committted crimes beyond that of illegally residency. Not that bad in my mind.
2
The real questions Sarah Mirk failed to ask:

The last time I checked failure to have a valid fare instrument is a simple violation of TriMet code (TriMet code 29.35), not unlike parking tickets. So why are these immigrants/foreigners getting arrested? TriMet fare inspectors are not policemen (see the TriMet code 29.10.A) and has no authority to make arrests. The only possible scenario otherwise is that TriMet transit police (i.e. Portland, Gresham, Milwaukie or Hillsboro cops working under contract) are targeting Latinos and other immigrants and slap them with arrest for "theft of service" or other tramped up "crimes" when others (whites) are getting written warnings and at worse a violation ticket. TriMet rightfully deserves a wrath of the community not only for this obvious sign of racial profiling but also for wasting hundreds of dollars in federal and county public funds for a measly $2.

2.
3
This country has an Ass-Ton of laws and you can't complain that you're being asked to follow them. Even if you are here illegally and not paying for all the services you receive (such as law enforcement, public transit, streets, etc.).
It's not racism to ask for ID.
If you get pulled over in your car or arrested or fined for stealing a ride on the MAX, EVERYONE has to show ID. You can be ticketed for not having valid ID with you while driving your car.
I'm so sad that I'm white and can't complain that I'm being forced to follow the law.
4
If you drive you have to have a driver's license.

If you are walking or bicycling or riding public transit there is no need to carry an ID. This is America, not North Korea or China. What's this, did TriMet become Arizona?
5
Get those illegal's out of my country and if not paying MAX fare is all it takes... I say well done !!!!

VIVA LOS 1070 !!!!!!!
6
Now wait a minute, since when were people ever ARRESTED for riding MAX without paying fare, un-documented or otherwise? It's never cops who check fares on the MAX, but Trimet fare inspectors - unarmed & with NO authority to arrest people. If they catch a fare-skipper, all they can do is either issue a warning or fine. So, exactly under what circumstances might an "un-documented" person be arrested simply for not paying fare on MAX?
7
Yeah Damos, that is exactly what I want to know.

I am aware however that the Hillsboro police frequently boards the trains especially at night between Fairplex and Hillsboro Central, and I hear that Gresham PD conducts similar fare inspections at Gresham Central TC, and I also spot Beaverton cops at Beaverton TC from time to time.

But this is a violation and not a crime, so there is no basis for arrest unless they have been excluded from TriMet properties previously and thus constitute a criminal trespass.
8
Why not arrest the other law breakers? The people who hire people who are not allowed to work here? afew CEOs and some HR people going to jail would be the catylist needed to fix the whole problem.

Or we can tear families apart and deport 12 million people.
9
Who cares about splitting up the border jumper families....They don't belong here!!! Kick them all out !!!

VIVA LOS 1070 !!!
10
One thing is clear, we can never EVER have an honest debate about "illegal" immigration [from Mexico] in this country without discussing one thing: NAFTA!
11
When I was 19, I studied in Scotland. Then afterwards I went to Sweden to party for the summer. I made a few bucks doing odd jobs under the table. I stayed longer than the 90 days that the tourist visa allowed (this was all pre-European union). I got on a train and didn't pay because I didn't think there would be a conductor. When there was one and the conductor radioed back my passport number, he found I was technically in the country illegally. I was taken first to the police station, then to the airport and told to buy a ticket out of the country at my own expense. Plus I was banned from Sweden for 2 years.

Now, was I a victim of something?
13
Sucks to be illegal.Wait a minute.......ILLEGAL !!!!!
17
Technically, everyone in this country who's not a Naitive Aboriginal is.......ILLEGAL!!!!!
18
Attention Sarah Mirk, no one has ever been deported because they didn't buy a Max ticket or failed to have a driver's license. People get deported because they're in the country illegally. Not having a transit ticket or a driver's license was simply the reason they came to the attention of the authorities.
19
@DamosA and @Amanda,
TriMet security officers usually issue a citation, warning or exclusion notice when someone doesn't pay their MAX fare, but they can also decide the call the police on the person. Usually this happens when the person is already excluded and is not supposed to be riding the MAX at all, or if they're being disruptive in some way. TriMet doesn't keep track of the number of arrests after "theft of service" calls or the race of those people arrested, so there's no real way to track racial profiling in this instance.
20
I expect the laws in this country to be followed. If you are in this country illegally, then yes we do as a nation to deport you back to your country of origin. If I broke the law in another country, I sure as hell would expect to be deported back home. What is really funny is how Hispanic people moan and complain about our imigration laws, actually in fact, have laws in many regards that are much stricter and harsher than what we have. Do the research. You would be rather surprised to see how Mexico deals with people that enter into their country illegally.
21
It's not unreasonable. I've been abroad and have been rounded up due to not carrying legit papers while wandering thru a city. Thankfully, my papers were easy to get back in my hostel, but if I was found to be there illegally or found to be a wanted felon, I would expect to be kicked out or kept locked up.

Im all for sharing what we've got here, but you need to play by the rules.
22
Actually a lot of the adult males illegally here have also committed a federal felony by failing to register with the Selective Service system. If they have not yet reached eighteen, or if they entered past the age of 26 this does not apply. I am not sure what the time limitation is on this law but it is, indeed, an applicable law.
23
Coming into this country ILLEGALLY is a crime. How is it that such a simple fact eludes so many people?

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